The 1994 Sri Lankan presidential election was the 3rd presidential election, held on 9 November 1994. Nominations were accepted on 7 October 1994 and voter turnout was 70.47%. Prime Minister Chandrika Kumaratunga of the governing People's Alliance was elected, receiving 62% of all votes cast, becoming the first female president of Sri Lanka.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 70.47% ( | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Winners of polling divisions. Kumaratunga in blue and Dissanayake in green. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Background
editPresident Ranasinghe Premadasa was assassinated in 1993 by the Tamil Tigers and was succeeded by the Prime Minister, Dingiri Banda Wijetunga. President Wijetunga chose not to run in the 1994 election; therefore the United National Party selected Leader of the Opposition Gamini Dissanayake as their candidate. His main challenger was Prime Minister Chandrika Kumaratunga of the People's Alliance, whose party had won the parliamentary elections earlier in 1994.[1]
On 24 October 1994, during his presidential campaign, Gamini Dissanayake was assassinated by the Tamil Tigers. His name on the ballot paper was replaced by his wife Srima Dissanayake, thus making the election the first Sri Lankan presidential election in which both main party candidates were women.[1]
Results
editKumaratunga won the election by a record margin with 62.28% of the vote.[1]
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chandrika Kumaratunga | People's Alliance | 4,709,205 | 62.28 | |
| Srima Dissanayake | United National Party | 2,715,283 | 35.91 | |
| Hudson Samarasinghe | Independent | 58,886 | 0.78 | |
| Harischandra Wijayatunga | Sinhalaye Mahasammatha Bhoomiputra Pakshaya | 32,651 | 0.43 | |
| A. J. Ranasinghe | Independent | 22,752 | 0.30 | |
| Nihal Galappaththi | Sri Lanka Progressive Front | 22,749 | 0.30 | |
| Total | 7,561,526 | 100.00 | ||
| Valid votes | 7,561,526 | 98.03 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 151,706 | 1.97 | ||
| Total votes | 7,713,232 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 10,945,065 | 70.47 | ||
| Source: Election Commission | ||||
References
edit- ^ a b c "Results of past presidential elections in Sri Lanka" (PDF). People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-23. Retrieved 2009-08-22.
- "Result of Presidential Election 1994" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-04.
- "1994 Sri Lanka Presidential Election Results". LankaNewspapers.com. 20 October 2022.
- "1994 - Presidential Election". Manthree.com. Archived from the original on 2010-01-30.